Japan and New Zealand on Thursday announced negotiations to expand defence and security cooperation, including intelligence sharing, as they warned of regional challenges -- in a veiled reference to Beijing.

The announcement came after talks between Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern, who is in Tokyo as part of an Asian trip intended to shore up alliances and bolster trade after a pandemic hiatus.

In a joint statement, the two sides reiterated existing common positions on a range of issues, including their shared opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and concerns over regional threats.

"Attempts to change the status quo by force can never be tolerated," Kishida told reporters after talks with Ardern.

"Japan and New Zealand strongly oppose such attempts in any regions including the East and South China Seas," he said, though neither leader directly named Beijing.

"We had candid talks about strengthening the strategic partnership between our two countries and generated a concrete result," Kishida said, announcing a decision to "start talks on a deal in the areas of security and defence".

In the joint statement, the two sides warned of "growing challenges to the fundamental values and principles shared by Japan and Zealand", reiterating their commitment to a "free and open Indo-Pacific".

The statement said the two countries would now work on a "legal framework for the reciprocal protection of classified information exchanged between the government to enable more seamless sharing".

Japan is not part of the Five Eyes intelligence network group -- comprising New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Britain and Canada.

But it has been working to bolster other alliances to confront China, including the Quad grouping with the United States, India and Australia. The Quad is expected to hold a summit in Japan next month.

US, China court Solomon Islands after defence deal
Honiara (AFP) April 22, 2022 - US and Chinese diplomats fought for the affections of the Solomon Islands on Friday after the small island state shocked its American allies by signing a defence pact with Beijing.

The Pacific state's traditional allies the United States and Australia are deeply suspicious of the deal, fearing it may give China a military foothold in the South Pacific.

A White House delegation landed at the airport in the capital Honiara and was ferried into town in a white minibus, said an AFP correspondent at the scene, ahead of planned meetings with the government.

On the same day, China's ambassador to the Solomon Islands was not far away, attending a ceremony with Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare to hand over an elite, blue-coloured running track.

It is part of a China-funded national stadium complex, reportedly worth US$53 million, that will host the 2023 Pacific Games for the first time in the island state of 800,000 people, many of whom live in poverty.

"On behalf of the Chinese government and people of China, we congratulate the government of the Solomon Islands," said China's ambassador, Li Ming, as he delivered the latest investment to be lavished by Beijing on a Pacific nation.

As its influence grows, Beijing announced this week it had signed the undisclosed security pact with Honiara.

A draft of the deal shocked countries in the region when it was leaked last month, particularly measures that would allow Chinese naval deployments to the Pacific nation, which lies less than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) from Australia.

- 'Lack of transparency' -

The Pacific state's prime minister insists the pact will not lead to China building a military base, but this has done little to assuage the concerns of the United States and Australia.

Too late to stop the deal, the White House said its diplomatic delegation was visiting Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands this week to "ensure our partnerships deliver prosperity, security and peace across the Pacific Islands and the Indo-Pacific".

The US diplomatic team -- led by the National Security Council's Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell and assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs Daniel Kritenbrink -- landed in Honiara just three days after the security pact with China was announced.

"We are concerned by the lack of transparency and unspecified nature of this agreement, which follows a pattern of offering shadowy, vague deals with little regional consultation in fishing, resource management, development assistance, and now security practices," a State Department official told AFP in Washington this week.

"The agreement has been moving forward for some time. The reported signing does not change our concerns."

The Solomon Islands' leader says his government signed the deal "with our eyes wide open". But he has declined to tell parliament when the signed version will be made public.

Sogavare's government severed ties with Taiwan in September 2019 in favour of diplomatic relations with China, unlocking investment but stoking inter-island rivalries.

Last November, protests against Sogavare's rule sparked violent riots in the capital, during which much of the city's Chinatown was torched.

While the unrest was partly fuelled by poverty and unemployment, anti-China sentiment has also been cited as playing a role.

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Solomons signed China security pact 'with our eyes wide open': PM
Sydney (AFP) April 20, 2022
The Solomon Islands signed a security pact with China with its "eyes wide open", the Pacific nation's prime minister said Wednesday, despite strong US and Australian opposition to the deal. Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said it was an "honour and privilege" to tell parliament the agreement had been signed by officials in Honiara and Beijing "a few days ago". The deal, announced Tuesday by Beijing, has faced sharp criticism from the United States and Australia, which fear the pact could lead t ... read more